MerDer Forever: A New Journey
by CSC843
Summary: Story of Meredith and Derek's experience of expecting their first baby. Details inside. Tell me what you think so far!
1. Chapter 1

**This story is about Meredith and Derek expecting their first child. It's set a few years into the future; Derek and Meredith are recently married. Meredith, Derek, and Addison have all become relatively good friends, and have mostly put the past behind them. To begin, Meredith is about 6 weeks pregnant. Mostly fluff. Enjoy!**

Meredith is leaning up against the wall of the on call room writing on some charts, when Derek comes in. He kneels down over her and kisses her. "Hey you," he says. "Hey," she responds, "Haven't seen you much today," she says. "Yeah, makes me sad." Meredith laughs and sips some water. He sits next to her and puts a hand under her thigh. "How are you feeling?" he asks thoughtfully. Meredith smiles as she continues writing. She sighs and glances at him, saying "Good, tired, but good." "Good," he whispers, putting a hand on her neck, distracting her. "Derek," she smiles, "I have to get his done." "Later, get it done later," he said, kissing her neck. She nuzzles him and he turns his head to hiss her lips. "Now, I have to do it now," she says smartly. He smiles and sits back next to her. "We should go to dinner tonight, once you get odd. A nice dinner and maybe walk afterwards." "Yeah, that sounds good." "Mmhmm," he acknowledges as he puts a strand of hair out of her face. He looks into her eyes and smiles. "What are you looking at?" she remarks. He laughs and says, "I love you." She continues writing, smiling, when suddenly she inhales deeply and closes her eyes. She puts her pen down and sits up straight. She groans slightly and Derek looks over at her, "You ok?" "Mmhmm, it's nothing." "Yeah I know better than to believe that," he says, kneeling in front of her. He moves the chart away from her and places his hand on her waist. "Come on, let's go lay down." "I'm fine, I just need a minute." "Nah, come on, let's go." She wraps her arms around his neck as he lifts her up gently. She whines in pain and he scoops her up and lays her down on the bed gently. He lays beside her holding her hand with the other hand on her waist. "I'm here, baby," he says kissing her hand. "Breathe." She exhales slowly and squeezes Derek's hand. She gets close to him and he wraps his arms around her, protecting her, doing whatever he can to help her. Derek knew the pain was getting intense by the grip Meredith had on his hand. She let go and rolled on her back, clenching the sheets in her fist. She tried to breathe as best she could, but the pain was making it hard to do anything. Derek stroked her hair and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry," and kissed her. She nodded softly, acknowledging him and moaned slightly. Derek saw tears filling her eyes and sat up over her with his hand on her stomach. "Ok, I'm going to get Addison." "No," she said weakly. "It's not that bad." "Even if I thought that was true, there's nothing wrong with her checking you out."

Derek came back shortly with Addison in front of him. "Hey, sweetie," she said, sitting on the bed next to her. "What's up?" she questioned, feeling her forehead. "Pain," Meredith grimaced. Addison felt her stomach and Meredith tried to roll over in pain. "Easy," she said, pushing her over on her back. "How intense?" she questioned, referring to her level of pain. "8ish?" Meredith squeezed out. "Her breathing is irregular," Addison told Derek. "We need to make sure she's getting enough oxygen." "Ok," he replied, "Come on, baby," Derek said softly, picking her up. He carried Meredith to an open exam room, where Addison puts an oxygen mask over on mouth. She resisted at first, Addison trying to calm her. "Deep breathes, Mer," she said soothingly, taking her hand. Meredith clenched her hand as a new, more intense wave of pain hit her. She rolled to her side curling up, trying to soothe her pain. Derek put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed her back, feeling helpless. Addison, still holding her hand got close to her and whispered, "You can do this," she said. Meredith was in deep pain now and was miserable. Addison felt her grip loosening slowly, "Good," she said, stroking her hair. "That's good," she said, however as her grips loosened, Meredith's breathing drastically slowed, and her eyes began closing. "Meredith?" Addison asked. "Mer, honey, stay with me." Addison said, getting up. "Derek, we need to start an IV, she's dehydrated." Derek ran out of room as Addison turned Meredith on her back. Derek came back and began inserting and IV into Meredith's arm. "Okay, I'm in," he said. "Addison lifted Meredith's scrub shirt slightly to monitor her heartbeat. "Oh, Meredith," she said, concerned. Addison was worried about how thin she was, running her thumb over Meredith's ribs. "She's lost weight," Addison remarked, attaching monitors. Meredith took a deep breath, and trying to relax, trying to let the fluids reactivate her body. Derek stroked her hair, and kissed her forehead. Addison watched the heart monitor steadily return to normal, and looked at Meredith as her muscles began to relax. She rubbed her thigh and gave it a light squeeze. "Good, she's ok."

Addison ordered Meredith to sleep for a few hours and let some medication help her regain her strength. Derek took the rest of the day to be with her. Meredith woke up wrapped in Derek's arms and he stirred as she began to move. She began to turn over onto her back, but was slowed by painfully sore muscles. She groaned softly as she sank into the bed and attempted to breathe deeply, but was unable to. Derek watched her and stoked her hair, the sight of her pain tugging at his heart. "Hey," he said, running his thumb over her ribs. Meredith smiled weakly and stretched slightly, barely having the strength to move. Derek grabbed a cup of gingerale for her, urging her to drink, which she did. Derek rubbed her stomach, trying to comfort her as much as possible. "I love you, so much," he said. She smiled weakly and took his hand. "I love you too." She slowly began to sit up, Derek helping her with his arm around her. Derek stared at her briefly, looking in her eyes, knowing she was in pain. It was hard for him to watch her hooked up to IV's and monitors; he hated it. "I'm fine, really," Meredith said, noticing him watching the IV drip. "Rest," he said softly. "Try and relax for awhile. She smiled slightly and laid back down, sinking into the bed. She stared at him and took a deep breathe. "Will you lay with me?" she asked, like a little child frightened by a nightmare. Derek smiled broadly at her, and crawled up onto the bed, laying on his stomach. He kissed her a few times, and placed his hand on her stomach. "Go to sleep," he said again, turning on his back, pulling Meredith in close. She laid close to him, feeling his warmth and protection, and within minutes, she was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter will included a flashback set about three weeks before Chapter 1, describing how Meredith and Derek initially found out Mer was pregnant. The flashback is told from Meredith's point of view, with a few of Derek's thoughts tossed in. But to start, this is set a few days after chapter 1. Enjoy! Thanks to those who review last chapter and made suggestions. I appreciate it!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Grey's, blah, blah, blah.

Meredith is already lying in bed and appears to be asleep. Derek climbs into bed and lays beside her. He puts his hand on her stomach and then slides it under her shirt, amazed at how flat it still is and how soft her skin is compared to his. Running his fingers over her muscles, Derek gently kisses her neck, discreetly trying to wake her. Meredith opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She ran her fingers through his hair and Derek looked up at her. Derek could tell she was in pain. He took her hand and kissed it. She squeezed it tightly and Derek was surprised by her lack of warmth. He pulled the covers up around her and got close to warm her with his body heat. "You doing ok?" Derek asks, putting his arm around her and kissing her forehead lightly. Meredith nodded, too exhausted to speak. Derek kissed her, then her neck, and she returned. Suddenly, Meredith winces in pain and gasps lightly. "Whoa," Derek says. "You ok?" "Mmhmm," she groans. Meredith settles into his chest and Derek wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She pulls his shirt into her fists and breathes deeply. He rubs her back until she turns over, trying to find a comfortable position. Derek placed a hand on her lower stomach and massaged her gently. The pain eased and Meredith's breathing slowed. Derek kissed the side of her face. "Go to sleep," he said. She smiled weakly and turned on her side, her head resting on his chest. Derek takes in her scent and smiles faintly, though he is concerned about the painful episodes Meredith had been having lately, not to mention the fact that she could barely keep anything down. Soon, he hears the slow, rhythmic breathing of Meredith sleeping.

_Flashback_

"Dr. Grey!" Bailey shouted. "Do you mind coming back to planet earth? Or you could stay in your happy place and do charts all day, whichever you choose." "Sorry," Meredith replied, still a little zoned out. Bailey and her interns began walking through the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital, a place Meredith had grown so accustomed to. So many things had happened to her here, so many life-changing things; her internship, her less than pleasant introduction to Addison, her relationship with her best friends, Derek, and a few life-or-death experiences every now and then. And now this. She thought of it as a cherry-on-top situation, for lack of a better term.

Meredith hadn't expected a baby. Not this early. The news was shocking to her. It wasn't one of those situations where she had "maternal instinct" or "mother's intuition." Meredith had way too much on her plate to keep track of whether her cycle was late or not. So needless to say, the news of her pregnancy hit her like a wrecking ball. Now she was faced with the challenge of telling Derek, not to mention everyone else at Seattle Grace.

Meredith got home relatively early that evening, and impatiently waited for Derek. _Oh, god,_ she thought. _This is big. This is really big. _She put a hand on her stomach and sighed. She was terrified of telling Derek, not because she thought he'd be unhappy, but because once she told someone, it would be real.

"Meredith!" Derek called as he walked in the door. He hung up his jacket and walked through the kitchen to find Meredith. She walked up to him slowly as he hugged her and gave her a kiss. "How you doing, babe?" he asked as he went to get some leftovers out of the fridge. "Ok...good, I mean," she stammered. Derek sat at the kitchen table and began eating. He looked up briefly to notice Meredith gazing at him, looking a little teary-eyed. "You ok? What's wrong?" Derek asked curiously. "I just wanted to talk; I need to tell you something. It's kind of important," she replied quietly. "Ok," he said, a little hesitantly. "Come on," Meredith said, taking his hands and leading him to the sofa in the living room. "Mer, what's going on?" Derek asked, smiling. "You know I'm not so great with words, and dressing them up, so I'm just going to say this." Derek looked at Meredith curiously, somewhat concerned. Meredith held her breathe, and blurted out the words that had been building up inside her for days; "I'm pregnant."

_End Flashback_

Derek came back to reality, the memories of a few weeks before still lingering in his mind. Meredith was wrapped in his arms, contently sleeping. As Derek reflected on his wife's pregnancy so far, his concern about her pain became heightened. Derek could only wonder if something was wrong. _This is our first baby,_ he thought. _It's new to us; I'm getting worked up about nothing, I'm sure. I hope._


End file.
